Lynch, stop being a dick

Public transport etiquette – I thought I had grasped its nuances but apparently I was wrong.  For instance, today’s bus journey home took my mind into Larry David neurosis territory when a chap sat down in the seat next to me. Nothing strange about that I hear you say but isn’t it a bit weird when there’s a number of free seats throughout the rest of the vehicle? I mean, this fellow could have acted like the big dog reclining on any of the vacant doubles pretending he was on a chaise-lounge or summat. But still he sat next to me.

Now, I must state that this is not because I was looking good. Trust me (and this isn’t me being modest) I looked rough as houses. I was tired and quite dishevelled – if there was an adjective to surmise my appearance it would probably be grizzly. Yep, grizzly does it justice.

So what else could have prompted this action? The strawberries. Gotta be. The fact that I was eating a big ol’ tub of nature’s fruit was the only logical explanation I could think of, but then am I to assume that he thought by disrupting my personal space, my cocoon of transport safety that I would of course offer him one? As time progressed I felt this is what was expected, he could see I was gorging myself in a manner that made me wish I’d worn my stretchy sweatpants to work that day. Surely it would just be plain awkward if I didn’t ? So that’s what I did. I turned to the man next to me and offered him a strawberry.

He looked at me like I’d handed him a dead rat still foaming at the mouth from the plague that surely took its sorry life. Still, he took one tentatively, held it a little longer than probably normal (I guess to check I hadn’t sprinkled rohypnol on it) and then ate it. I’ve never known someone to eat a strawberry slower. I felt uncomfortable, he felt uncomfortable. I proceeded to get off one stop earlier than my usual. Awwwwkward.

This lad is quality, unsigned too which is quite frankly a bit silly. Listen and love.

Sam Mason – ‘You’re Lonely’

Usain Bolt I am not

I watched the leaked trailer for ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo‘ earlier, has a Trent Reznor/Karen O collab with a cover of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Immigrant Song‘ which isn’t actually all that terrible… If I swayed that way she would be one of my girl crushes for sure, the gal has swag. Too many class Yeah Yeah Yeahs tracks to choose from but I must say I do like this one. (Plus we got bamboozled last night what with it being a bank holiday ‘n’ all and true to form, I ran. Yep, Just ran around London town). Quite a fitting title yus see…

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – ‘Runaway’

Clothes, bankrolls and hos

Things of a revelatory nature I’ve discovered this week:

• The 24-hour bakery on Brick Lane is somewhere you don’t want to go as a single female. I am a massive fan of this establishment (the salt-beef bagels have saved me from chewing off my own arm on many occasions). However this week something was said to me whilst I patiently waited for my pal to pay which was at once disturbing and quite funny when a) considering the context of the location b) realising the time of day and c) the person saying it. I shan’t repeat it here in case of sensitive souls (plus I know my mother dearest has checked this page once or twice) but jeez louise – take my word for it and always arm yourself with a rugged male on your arm should you frequent it. Mental.
• Marques Toliver is going to be big (in music circles at least). I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the man’s a star.
• I’ve always been shoddy with contact (sometimes I don’t reply to texts even with good pals, when I do it’s often days later) but if possible I’m actually getting worse with time. Not good, must try harder.
• Nights out where an element of competition is imbued are just the bestest. Messy bingo, ping-pong, pool, foosball… why make friendly chitchat when you can destroy someone’s self confidence at one of the above? (that’s assuming you’re good. If not blame the booze).
• Twitter is simultaneously highly addictive and incredibly boring. I’m 50/50 as to whether our newfound relationship shall last. Watch this space…
• No recording of Cults does Madeline Follin’s voice justice. I’m not necessarily their biggest fans but see them live and she puts Flo Welch to absolute shame (without that piercing element too which is nice, no perforated ear drums for me).
• Carlos Puyol does look quite weird but I still think I’m in love with him.

More of the same next week. Have a good Sunday one and all, enjoy this classic…

Jeff Buckley – ‘Lover, You Should’ve Come Over’

RIP GSH

Gil Scott-Heron will be sorely missed. If something good is to be taken from this sad news it’s that left behind is a powerful back catalogue from this most important and influential talent that told it truer than most. On a personal note I’m incredibly grateful that I got to see him play live just last September, probably didn’t realise at the time how lucky my mates and I were…

Gil Scott-Heron – ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’

 

Mob mentality

I wasn’t going to post any of the tracks off ‘Pala’ as I assumed everyone else would, but sometimes you can’t fight facts and to not have one on here would be detrimental to my musical reputation. So here it is, the song that will no doubt be top of my summer anthem playlist. Stick to your guns boys, it’s doing you wonders.

Friendly Fires – ‘Blue Cassette’

This is going to hurt me a lot more than it hurts you

I’m not fussed about birthdays. Crimbo is nice and all but it’s not something I go apeshit about. Easter may as well not happen, it is a non-event – a non-event where you wake up on the Monday fat. Yeah, thanks Jesus for that one.

Festivals however, festivals are a different breed of party. These are the occurrences that provide the light at the end of the tunnel and would yus believe it? The season of merriment is nearly upon us… I’ll be working IOW and will probably pop along to Field Day, but it’s EXIT and Besti I’m putting my greatest energy into. I’ll gloss over the latter as that’s not until many moons from now, but suffice to say last year’s saw me lose both my dignity and my prized gold hightops (which is still a mystery as they were on my feet the entire time??) whilst my pal decided to face-plant through a tent to get his rest. Dick’eds yes, but dick’eds game for a lark.

EXIT though is going to be our Everest. I’ve done foreign fests before and Benicassim in particular was a delight with nine days of sun, questionable liquor and nada sleep. However I think EXIT might push the parameters of our endurance and I myself am undeniably excited. The countdown has officially begun (this isn’t exactly true, I’m not even sure what date we’re flying to Belgrade…) but sweet bejesus bring it.

With this firmly in mind there may well be a theme popping up in some track choices from here-on in to coincide with this beast but I assure you, it won’t be overwhelming, it’ll be banging. Saying that today’s song has jack to do with it. You see that? Keeping yus on your toes.

Led Zeppelin vs. Gramatik – ‘Stairway To Hip Hop Heaven’

Oh no she didn’t!

I’m gonna say it. Yeah, this is being set in technological stone – the SBTRKT album is going to be one of my top choices this year. I could have posted any of the tracks from his upcoming record here and each and every one would have been a worthy addition to this blog’s lineage. Ultimately I plumped for this shout as everyone’s heard  ‘Wildfire’ by now (and I couldn’t find any of the others online). Sometimes the decision is made for you. No worries, Sampha has some divine vocals going on…

SBTRKT – ‘Trials of the Past’ (feat. Sampha)

Mentalist

There are just so many things wrong in this video that it’s kind of right. Saying that I think the only thing missing from my wardrobe is a skull-topped walking stick that can smoke a ciggie, Jay be stylin’…

Screamin Jay Hawkins – ‘I Put A Spell On You’

Break

It’s the weeeeeekend! Freaky-ass video but a top tune nonetheless…

Planningtorock – ‘The Breaks’

You know you want to…

When you look at a pic of a gang of people and you can’t tell which individual is actually your ‘friend’, that’s when you know it’s time for the cull. The Facebook cull. Tired of constant status updates making you feel nauseous? Cull time. Bored of the same ‘spontaneous’ photos taken by lasses from above their head (you know the ones) which are in fact contrived as fuck? Cull time. Don’t be sentimental – be brutal. Consider it like cleansing your soul.

I have carried out two to date taking out 100 people each time (when put like that it does sound a bit like a massacre…). Sure it gets awkward when you see your technological victims in the flesh but hey, it passes. I myself know I have been deleted on numerous occasions but do I take it personally? Hell no. In fact I applaud those with the balls to do it. These are the beings that refuse to let facey-b dictate their social responsibilities and instead embrace their right to only put effort in with people they care about. Done.

Think about it, think think about it.

This is fine…

Baths – ‘♥’